


What I Learned In Art School

by mythicalstyles



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Artist Harry, Artist Niall, Artist Zayn, M/M, Musician Liam, Musician Louis, This takes place in Atlanta, dark zayn but not really, harry smokes a lot of weed, liam is just sad, louis just wants everyone to be happy, niall means well but he has like no filter, the title makes it sound like it would be written in first person but it's not sorry i'm weird, there IS narry in this but it isn't end game and it's pretty heart breaking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 08:24:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5701618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythicalstyles/pseuds/mythicalstyles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn watched the blonde and his tall friend with the intent on getting a good look at his face, but all he seemed to be able to focus on were his stupid bright red shorts.</p><p>Five boys navigate through the struggles of young adulthood. Niall is a lively and determined boy who wants nothing more than to become an animator. Harry is a sweetheart, vegan and someone who smokes a little bit too much weed. Liam is a homesick trumpet player. Louis is a flutist who has more than just a few daddy issues. And Zayn... he's a day dreamer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Harry

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends! This is my first fanfiction in a VERY long time. The rest of mine are saved on my computer, but deleted from the rest of the world. I plan on reposting a lot of my works after they are rewritten and whatnot. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoy this first chapter!

Harry was the first person Niall had met when he first arrived at college. After his parents had helped him drag all of his bags and boxes up to the third floor of his building and said their goodbyes, almost immediately a tall lanky being stumbled out of the bathroom, a suspicious smelling smoke following him. Niall stares blankly at the boy. He has on tight black skinny jeans and a baggy brown crewneck with the word "Vegan" in white text. Around the boys messy brown hair was a green scarf. It looked good on him, Niall decided. Odd, but good.

A small smirk forms on Harry's lips as he looks at Niall. What a beautiful roommate he had. He could feel the positive energy radiating off of the boy. "Nice to meet you, mate." Harry's British accent was thick, and not at all what Niall had expected.

"Harry, right? I'm Niall." His own voice held a slightly Southern accent, but only if one would listen closely. Niall had known Harry's name since he got their room assignment back in July. But he had failed to find the boy on any form of social media, now he knew why. Harry definitely seemed like the hipster type.

"It's great to finally meet you! Sorry if uh... I missed meeting your parents, I was a bit busy um.. yeah." He laughs at himself a bit and walks over to his bed, sitting down with a slight bounce of the mattress. 

"Oh, it's fine! We actually didn't notice that you were here. My parents were actually in a bit of a rush, they had a wedding to get to." Niall lies down on his bed, pulling out his sketch book from his book bag. He flipped to his current project, Adam Lambert. He had quite a bit of it done, all that was left was a bit of shading and cleaning.

Harry just nods, listening to Niall's voice. He had a cute accent, he decided, something he could fall asleep to. It was calming as Harry came down from his high.

A few hours later Niall gently shakes Harry awake. "What?" He mumbles, his eyes still closed.

"We have a meeting thing with our orientation group, didn't you get the packet thing?" Niall says, gently tugging at Harry's wrist, trying to drag the great giant out of bed. The blonde had changed his outfit since their first meeting. He now wore a baby blue tank top and cute red shorts which Harry thought hugged his legs very nicely.

"Are you gay?" Niall blurts out innocently when he notices Harry staring at his legs. The blonde didn't have much of a filter, being raised by very liberal parents caused him to speak his mind whenever he felt like it.

"Pansexual, actually." Harry stated with a small smirk. The taller boy finally stood up, enjoying how much smaller Niall was compared to himself.

"So, does that mean you like pans? That's a bit strange." The blonde packs up his small drawstring bag with his sketchbook, some pencils, and his wallet.

"Not exactly, it kind of means that I like basically anyone regardless of their gender." It was the easiest way Harry could explain it without complaining about society's focus on the gender binary which really shouldn't be a thing, but he holds his tongue as he packs his own back pack with a few bags of baby carrots and a jar of organic peanut butter.

Niall watches Harry curiously. "Why carrots of all things? With peanut butter?" He raises an eyebrow as Harry chuckles.

"Well, I'm a vegan, and a lot of places here in the south aren't very accommodating to that." Harry shrugs and gathers up a few more things before slinging his backpack on. 

"Ready to go, Daisy?"

"Daisy?" Niall blushes and pouts slightly. "And what's with the nickname?"

"You're cute and bright like a daisy, I can feel it." Niall just giggles at Harry's comment. Living with this tall lanky monster was definitely going to be interesting.


	2. Red Shorts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try and be quicker with my updates. Enjoy guys! xo

Louis wasn’t quite sure why they had to baby around a bunch of freshman, but wanting to be on the good side of Smithlen’s activity board, he made no snide remark. The brunette was a sophomore, and could only dream about being the president of the activity board. He knew that he was born for the duty. 

He looked over at his partner, Liam, who was sitting on one of the sets of tall steps that surrounded the Olympic park in Atlanta. He was on his phone texting someone; Louis assumed it was his mother. Liam was known for being notoriously homesick, and it made Louis feel a bit bad. Liam wasn’t from here; he was from a wealthy neighborhood in Illinois. A nice place near a lake, Louis had remembered. It was something out of one of those stupid American Dream movies. A type of surreal dishonesty that Louis couldn’t stand. 

Louis held up a white board with the number “26” written in large green font. He knew that this orientation thing wasn’t required and that a lot of the kids wouldn’t show up, but he had to at least look like he was enjoying himself. Liam approaches him from behind, resting his head on the shorter boy’s shoulder. “We have fifteen kids in our group and not a single one has showed up yet, what’s the point of this exactly?” The brunette complained with a deep sigh. 

“You didn’t have to sign up for this, Liam… I asked you. I never commanded you.” Louis says softly and eyes a confused looking pair off in the distance. 

“I wanted to spend time with you… and maybe talk about some of the stuff that happened-“ 

“I’m not talking to you about anything.” Louis steps away from the taller boy. A bitterly cold feeling took over his body. He sees red, but forces himself not to let it get the best of him. He simply takes a few deep breaths slowly. 

Liam watches him, not really sure what to say. Liam was never quite sure what he should say, he always seemed to say the wrong thing, especially when it came to Louis. It had been that way since he invited Louis to his home for the summer. Liam thought that Louis’ positive behavior after everything meant that he was okay, that he wasn’t upset. Liam had apologized a million times for what he had done, but that was a story for another day. 

 

“Okay, what are the chances that the frustrated gay couple over there are the guys that we’re looking for?” Niall stands with Harry, gently leaning on the taller boy, who has his arm around Niall’s shoulders. Both were looking at a schedule and map of the area. 

“How can you be so sure that they’re a couple? Or gay?” Harry mumbles, biting another baby carrot in half. Just on the short walk to the park, Harry had realized how many assumptions Niall seemed to make on the spot. They weren’t really judgments or ways of being malicious. The statements were seemingly innocent observations that the blonde was more than happy to expand on. He saw logic in most things. 

“It’s all about body language… Didn’t you see how they were standing together just a moment ago? Honestly, Harry. Open your eyes.” The blonde lets out a small chuckle and steps out from under Harry’s arm, much to the lanky boy’s dismay. 

Harry follows the boy towards the pair, who seemed less than happy to exist in this universe. “Excuse me, are you Louis and Liam?” Niall asks softly. His voice was as sweet as his smile, as far as Harry could tell. 

Louis’ blank gaze slowly softens as he hears the younger blonde’s voice ring in his ears. “I’m the Louis part of that duo, yeah. The silly kid on his phone behind me is Liam.”   
He gestures by slightly throwing his head in Liam’s direction. “What are your names?” Louis asks pulling out a sheet of paper from behind the white board he was holding. 

“I’m Harry Styles, and this little Daisy is Niall Horan.” The brunette says with a little smirk, getting a kick out of the way Niall’s cheeks turn pink. 

“Don’t call me Daisy, please. It’s just Niall.” The blonde sighs a bit, still holding a small smile. 

“Well alright Just Niall and Harry Styles, welcome to Smithlen-“ 

“And Zayn Malik.” A quiet voice chimes in before Louis is finished speaking. All eyes turn to the tall boy, skin perfectly tan. He’s wearing tight black jeans, a white t-shirt and a jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up to reveal what one could only describe as a pretty impressive sleeve of tattoos. Zayn’s hair is perfectly styled in an upward fashion, something that Harry notices right away, a bit jealous by the boy’s impeccable looks. 

“Sorry I’m late, not used to the city yet.”

Niall eyes the taller boy. His bright blue eyes taking in the stunning appearance of the stranger before him. He’s gorgeous, more beautiful than anyone he thinks he’s ever met. Right as Niall makes eye contact with the boy he immediately looks away. There’s something about the sharpness in Zayn’s eyes that surprised him. The boy carried an intriguing energy that Niall simply couldn’t place his finger on. 

“Alrighty then, Zayn.” Louis checked off the boy’s name on his list and turned to Liam. “Let’s get a move on then, Atlanta is a big place so I want us to be able to explore as much as possible.” 

The group of five began their journey shorty, seeing as no one else bothered to show up. Louis seemed cheerful; the small group gave him more confidence while speaking. “Alright guys, this is the Hard Rock Café. I know there’s one in basically every major city and big mall, but here you go, great food as always.” The group nodded as Louis spoke, more taken aback by all of the tall buildings and busy streets than anything else. Niall had been to the city before, but only in a car, walking around and experiencing everything was a whole other story. 

As they continue, Liam points out a few lesser known places. “I know all of you guys are probably too young to drink, but if you slip the bouncer a twenty at some of these places, they can be gracious at times.” The brunette smiles and nudges Louis a bit and smile. “Two weeks before finals was pretty fun, right?” 

Louis simply rolls his eyes playfully and then looks back at the group. Niall is still staring up at the buildings, Harry is picking something off of Niall’s shirt, and Zayn has his face buried in his phone. Louis sighs and bit and shakes his head at the distracted freshmen. “Okay guys. That concludes our tour of the down town area. Tomorrow Liam and I will be giving you a tour of the campus, showing you guys around and helping you find your classes. It can be pretty tricky, especially with a campus in the city.” 

 

“You’re in Jackson as well, Zayn?” Harry chirps up as the trio began their walk back to their building. 

“Jackson is a freshmen dorm, of course he is, Harry.” Niall says quickly.

The brunette nods and looks up from his phone slightly. Zayn watched the blonde and his tall friend with the intent on getting a good look at his face, but all he seemed to be able to focus on were his stupid bright red shorts. “Nice shorts.”

Niall doesn’t really look up at him, still… maybe a bit frightened by the boy’s eyes, but acknowledges Zayn nonetheless. “Harry thinks so too. They hug my legs nicely, don’t you think, Zayn?” 

Again, Zayn just nodded. Niall could tell that Zayn wasn’t as easy to read as Harry. His eyes showed a different kind of spirit behind them. Harry was light, cheerful, and carefree. Zayn… Zayn was something Niall had never seen before, and he wasn’t sure what it was. His left side felt pleasantly warm next to Harry. His right side however was a shocking mixture of burning coals and an icy blizzard. Zayn was a storm that Niall wasn’t sure he could comprehend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this one. :) Please check out my Tumblr and Wattpad as well. Same username in both places. 
> 
> Thanks again! ms. xo


End file.
